The colloquium centres on Hispanic chant (often called Mozarabic chant).Participants will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with this repertoire through workshops conducted by Juan Carlos Asensio Palacios, Director of the Schola Antiqua (Spain) and a renowned musicologist. Mr. Asensio will also share his knowledge of the history of Hispanic liturgical chant, its manuscript sources, and efforts aimed at its revival.

The colloquium will conclude on August 11 in the afternoon with a concert of Hispanic Chant and Organ presented in the abbatial church of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac. Under the direction of Mr. Asensio, participants will present the fruit of the work they have accomplished over the course of the weekend. Organist Dom Richard Gagné, o.s.b., will improvise at the organ on chants performed by Colloquium participants.

The Sarum Office and Mass: December 21-22

Dear Friends: we in Hamilton Ontario plan on singing the Sarum Office and Mass for December 21 evening and December 22 day. This will be second vespers of St. Thomas and Saturday in the ember days of Advent. All are welcome. Address: Grace Lutheran Church, 1107 Main Street West. We are planning a very full office: December 21: Vespers 7:00 pm, Compline 8:00 pm; Saturday: Matins-Lauds 7:00 am, Matins and Lauds of St. Mary, 8:50; Lauds of the Dead: 9:30, Prime-Chapter-Terce-Sext, 10:00; Mass 11:15; Lunch 12:15; None 1:00. (Hopefully we can keep to schedule!!) Anyone who is interested is most welcome: If you would like the text and music of the event, please contact me directly at renwick [at] mcmaster [dot] ca and I will send you the two large files (total 168 pages)!

The Feast of the Assumption

Dear friends:
Brandon Wild and William Renwick have concocted a plan to sing the full Sarum Liturgy for the Feast of the Assumption, August 14-15, 2018. I write to invite you to participate if you are interested – – – in part – – – or in the whole. The idea is to gain an experience in medieval worship.

COMPARATIO DATABASE

Dear Colleagues,

I am a Directrice de recherche émérite at the Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes (CNRS) in Paris, where I study liturgical and musical medieval chants.

I am getting in touch with you to present a new musicological database, COMPARATIO, on which I have worked for some years. In it I study chants for the liturgical medieval office. For each chant, I give transcriptions coming from manuscripts of different origins. My aim is to make known latin and musical variants that are still unrecorded and thus facilitate the identification of manuscripts of unknown origin.

Moreover, COMPARATIO allows the study of the modal evolution of these songs thanks to musical variations. And in the practical field, it can be useful to Gregorian choirs who want to improve the knowledge of their repertoire and thus sing it better.

I attach to this mail a presentation published in the medieval journal Scriptorium explaining the various special features of the website.

With the help of the computer specialists at the Institut, COMPARATIO has been developed and put online, at the folowing adress :

In addition, I would also like to have your opinion on a cooperative project between users and myself :

At the moment, I choose randomly the chants that I treat, and some will enter COMPARATIO not before many years. A scholar or a choir conductor interested in a particular chant could ask to have it entered against a small financial contribution. It would be a win-win partnership : the sponsor could study the chant and I would receive the funding I need to developp COMPARATIO.

Do you think that such an idea is realistic and useful ? Would you personally be interested ?

Under the expression, ”early music”, are hidden a great number of repertoires from different origins, aesthetics and periods. This workshop will show Pérès’ unique approach of early music, including singing the original notation, to transmit the tradition and heritage of these songs.

This workshop is for everyone who wishes to discover or improve their knowledge on the subject and is offered in French and English

For the last 40 years, Marcel Perez has explored the musical memory of ritual singing in the Christian west. In 1982 he created the Organum ensemble, then in 1984 the CERIMM (European research centre on music of the Middle Ages, in 2001 CIRMA (travelling centre for research on early music now located in Moissac abbey in France. Address to the French website www.organum-cirma.fr

How much? : 160$ adults / 100$ for students, a deposit of 50% of the workshop price is required to complete the subscription. This amount is non refundable if the student cancel his coming, after the 5th of February 2018.

The workshop will be held in the beautiful Rougemont Abbaye (meaning ”red mountain”, the town is renowned for her fertile apple fields) located in Montérégie region, 45 min from Montreal, 1h from Sherbrooke, 1h from the American border. It will possible for the students to reserve accommodations for a small fee. The rooms equip with a bathroom are available at 70$ per night, the ones with a sink only are available at 60$ per night. Please note that reservations must be made by the 5th of February 2018.

The Songs of St-James

6-7 May 2017

Marcel Pérès

Why, since the ninth century, the apostle St James has been the object of great faith and fervour in the Western Christian world? Even today people, more numerous each year and with a wide diversity of motivations, arrive from all over Europe to walk the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James, leading to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. Yet the vocal music that once served as a support in the cult of St James is still little known, even to those involved with the pilgrimage, and it is therefore rarely performed today. Despite an otherwise extremely flourishing interest in the saint, the musical aspect of his cult is now relatively neglected. This workshop is to explore this music, as it was transmit to us by the Codex Calixtinius. The music of the Codex Calixtinus is a compilation of various works originating in important places along the pilgrimage route. It presents a striking picture of the musical styles that were then in use in those parts. The polyphonic pieces in the Codex Calixtinus are very close in style to the Aquitaine and Paris organum repertories, known to us mainly though thirteenth-century sources.

The teacher:
For the last 40 years, Marcel Pérès has explored the musical memory of ritual singing in theChristian west. In 1982 he created the Organum ensemble, then in 1984 the CERIMM (European research centre on music of the Middle Ages, in 2001 CIRMA (travelling centre for research on early music) now located in Moissac abbey in France.

The songs of St-James

November 23-25

Why, since the ninth century, the apostle St James has been the object of great faith and fervour in the Western Christian world? Even today people, more numerous each year and with a wide diversity of motivations, arrive from all over Europe to walk the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James, leading to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. Yet the vocal music that once served as a support in the cult of St James is still little known, even to those involved with the pilgrimage, and it is therefore rarely performed today. Despite an otherwise extremely flourishing interest in the saint, the musical aspect of his cult is now relatively neglected. This workshop is to explore this music, as it was transmit to us by the Codex Calixtinus. The music of the Codex Calixtinus is a compilation of various works originating in important places along the pilgrimage route. It presents a striking picture of the musical styles that were then in use in those parts. The polyphonic pieces in the Codex Calixtinus are very close in style to the Aquitaine and Paris organum repertories, known to us mainly though thirteenth-century sources.

The teacher:
For the last 40 years, Marcel Pérès has explored the musical memory of ritual singing in the Christian west. In 1982 he created the Organum ensemble, then in 1984 the CERIMM (European research centre on music of the Middle Ages, in 2001 CIRMA (traveling centre for research on early music) now located in Moissac abbey in France.

For subscribing, all you have to do is write a short e-mail with your name and the reason you want to participate at marcelperesauquebec@gmail.com

When? From the 23th to the 25th of November, each day from 5:30 to 9:30 pm
Where? : UQAM, room 3560, also called ”spring room”
How much?: Adults: 150 CAD , Students 50 CAD

For a short glimpse on the classes content, see our publicity on youtube ”Marcel Pérès au Québec”

And for more information you can contact Guillaume Lirette Gélinas, again at marcelperesauquebec@gmail.com or by phone 01-819-640-8864

Formation grégorienne 2016
For the weekend of 30 September, we have organized a Gregorian chant seminar with Dom Richard Gagné from the monastery of the Servants of the Most Holy Sacrament in Chicoutimi.
Michel Tremblay, Président, Le choeur grégorien UNA VOCE

The Gregorian Institute of Canada is pleased to announce that its 12th annual colloquium will take place from August 10th to 13th, 2017, at the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac (Quebec).

The colloquium programme will center on practical Gregorian chant workshops, led by a renowned master. Workshops for beginners will also be offered.

Saint-Benoît-du-Lac choirmaster Dom Richard Gagné, o.s.b., will lecture on the work of his predecessor Dom Georges Mercure, o.s.b., and on the latter’s historical Gregorian chant recordings, made between 1936 and 1948.

This workshop is open to everyone who wishes to develop a global approach of religious singing in occidental Europe. Here, we will tackle the different scansion techniques of plain-chant inherited from the late antiquity, who continued to exist within many forms until the 14th century. We are also going to touch on elements of the oral tradition, which gradually established the foundation of more complex polyphonies in the Gothic era. Some of these elements are still visible today under drone sounds in Sardenian, Corsican and Pyrenean traditional songs.

The teacher:
For the last 40 years, Marcel Pérès has explored the musical memory of ritual singing in the Christian west. In 1982 he created the Organum ensemble, then in 1984 the CERIMM (European research centre on music of the Middle Ages, in 2001 CIRMA (travelling centre for research on early music) now located in Moissac abbey in France.

When? From the 26th to the 29th of may, each day from ten a.m. to six p.m.

Where? : 26th and 27th of may at UQAM, 28th and 29th of may at McGill university, optional end of workshop concert at the chapel of the Congregation of sisters of Sainte-Anne, Montreal

How much?: Adults: 250 CAD , Students 150 CAD

And for more informations you can contact Guillaume Lirette Gélinas, at marcelperesauquebec@gmail.com or by phone 01-819-640-8864

This workshop is open to everyone who wishes to develop a global approach of religious singing in occidental Europe. Here, we will tackle the different scansion techniques of plain-chant, inherited from the late antiquity, which continued to exist within many forms until the 14th century. We are also going to touch on elements of the oral tradition which gradually established the foundation of more complex polyphonies in the Gothic era. Some of these elements are still visible today under drone sounds in the Sardinian, Corsican or Pyrenean traditional songs.

GIC Choir going to Kalamazoo

A GIC choir under the direction of William Renwick will be performing at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo Michigan, May 12-15, 2016. The choir will be singing, for the first time in 450 years, the music for the Office of Saint Osmund, as transcribed by William Renwick from the only surviving source, a manuscript in the library of Salisbury Cathedral. The core of the choir is made up of members of the Hamilton Schola Cantorum, but also includes singers from elsewhere. Please contact William Renwick at renwick@mcmaster.ca if you would like to be part of the choir.

Colloquium organized by The Gregorian Institute of Canada
August 11 – 14, 2016
Toronto, Ontario
St. Augustine’s Seminary of Toronto

The Gregorian Institute of Canada maintains a vision of chant studies where the practical and the academic contribute equally to the evolving understanding of the medieval musical world. This kind of double ideal for chant research was nowhere more clearly set out than in the life of Dr. Andrew Hughes, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto and major force in the international community of chant scholars. Hughes passed away at the end of 2013 but his work remains as a witness to his dedication, innovation, and tireless curiosity. Throughout his career, Hughes organized concerts of newly transcribed material, re-enacted medieval ceremony, and wrote the program notes for many well-known ensembles. Both a realist and a visionary, Hughes also anticipated the usefulness of computer-aided chant research decades before it became common. As fellow Canadian heirs to his legacy, the Gregorian Institute of Canada is honoured to host colloquium sessions dedicated to the memory of Andrew Hughes and his persistent passion for chant research. Authors are encouraged to submit not only abstracts pertaining to Hughes’ work directly, but also any research that contributes something new to our overall understanding of chant and medieval liturgical books in general.

Please send a 250-word abstract to the program committee at chant@gregorian.ca. Abstracts may be sent and papers presented in either English or French. Colloquium papers will be limited to 30 minutes, followed by a 10-minute discussion period.

Performance practice workshops will last 40 minutes.

The deadline for proposals is January 15, 2016.

For further information, registration, and colloquium updates, please visit the Gregorian Institute of Canada website at www.gregorian.ca.